Skip to main content

Nicol: You win some, you lose some

After a semi-final defeat on home soil, world No.1 Nicol David will look to stamp her class at the Hong Kong Open this week.
After a semi-final defeat on home soil, world No.1 Nicol David will look to stamp her class at the Hong Kong Open this week. 

PETALING JAYA: Let’s face it, Nicol David is not going to win every single tournament she competes in.

That was evident from the recently concluded Malaysian Open as the world No.1, fresh from winning a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games earlier this month, was unable to lift her game and lost to eventual winner Raneem El Weleily of Egypt in the semi-finals.

It certainly comes as a shock as Malaysians are not used to watching Nicol lose in her own backyard. But last Friday’s defeat is Nicol’s fourth on home soil since the 2012 Malaysian Open final – also to Raneem.

It will be unfair to say that the Penangite, who turns 31 tomorrow, has suffered a dropped in her performance as she has always played with a very high intensity.
With Nicol having set such high standards in the game, the catch-up pack, featuring a host of young Egyptians are closing in on her.

A tight Women’s Squash Association (WSA) Tour schedule is not helping Nicol either as she is competing in the Hong Kong Open which started yesterday, the Asian Games (Sept 19-Oct 4), the US Open (Oct 9-18) and the Macau Open (Oct 20-26).

Nicol however offered no excuses for her defeat at the Malaysian Open.

“A defeat is a defeat and there is nothing much I can do about that except to train harder and come back stronger,” said the seven-time world champion.

“It’s definitely disappointing to lose in the Malaysian Open but it’s fairplay to Raneem. She took her chances well. It’s obviously a very long season ahead and the Malaysian Open is just the start. For me it’s all about choosing and peaking at the right tournament.

Nicol have won the Hong Kong Open nine consecutine times and will meet a qualifier in the first round tomorrow.

National No. 2 Low Wee Wern will take on local player Tong Tsz Wing in the first round. A win will pit the 24-year-old against Malaysian Open runner-up Nour El Tayeb of Egypt.


by Kng Zheng Guan - The Star

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...
4 comments
Read more

Atlet Tempuhi Empat Kejohanan Besar Sebelum Olimpik Rio 2016

KUALA LUMPUR, 31 Mei (Bernama) -- Empat temasya sukan penting yang dijadual berlangsung mulai Disember ini hingga 2015 menjadi medan persiapan atlet negara sebelum menghadapi cabaran Sukan Olimpik 2016 di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, kata Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Khairy Jamaluddin Jumaati. Kejohanan berkenaan ialah Sukan SEA di Myanmar pada Disember, Sukan Asia 2014 di Incheon, Korea Selatan, Sukan Komanwel 2014 di Glasgow, Scotland dan Sukan SEA 2015 di Singapura. Bercakap kepada pemberita selepas melawat Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) di Bukit Jalil di sini, Khairy berkata kesemua temasya sukan itu dilihat amat penting dalam memastikan impian negara untuk membawa pulang pingat emas Olimpik pertama menjadi kenyataan. "Kita di Kementerian Belia dan Sukan (KBS) mahupun MSN akan memastikan semua atlet mendapat bantuan sewajarnya dalam melakukan persiapan ke arah membawa pulang pingat emas pertama negara di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil nanti," katanya. Dalam perkemb...
6 comments
Read more

Uber Cub: Malaysian squad Can Spring A Surprise - Ahmad Shabery

KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 (Bernama) -- Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek remains confident that the national Uber Cup squad can spring a surprise when Malaysia hosts the Thomas and Uber Cup finals at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from May 9-16. He said despite not being the favourite, the women's team was able to surprise everyone by winning the gold medal at the Laos SEA Games. "I am confident they (Uber Cup team) will be able to produce a similar surprise. Not only are they capable of reaching the semi-final, they can go further," he told reporters after having lunch with national shuttlers here Thursday. National badminton Team manager Datuk Syed Abu Bakar Abdullah who echoed the minister's confidence said: "In Laos, nobody expected the women's team to win the world, so why not the Uber Cup? All they need to do is try their very best." Women's team captain Wong Pei Tty said she and her team-mates have set a target of r...
1 comment
Read more